


pandemonium of the heart

by myn_x



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Brief mention of animal death, Imp!Hinata, M/M, Witch!Ushijima
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-09 00:56:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12876735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myn_x/pseuds/myn_x
Summary: The only thing harder than contracting a greater demon is actually summoning one.When Ushijima ends up with a crow for his shadow after a summoning goes awry, he thinks nothing of it.That lasts until he realizes he's contracted to an imp with no intention of leaving.





	1. encounter

**Author's Note:**

> my creature was imp, so naturally i had to go with hinata lol. for my interpretation, hinata has two forms, a crow glamour and how he actually looks as an imp. 
> 
> i was also assigned demon and witch/wizard as additional creatures. with those three in mind, this au was born :3
> 
> for [@rebels-rewrite](http://rebels-rewrite.tumblr.com). hope you dont mind some ushihina!!
> 
> i wanna say this will be around 5 chapters, but we'll see. rating will definitely change!

The familiar sting of the knife across his palm was more annoying than it was painful. But it still hurt, even more so as his flesh began to reknit itself with his murmured incantation.    
  
Ushijima squeezed his right hand into a fist and dark scarlet drops fell to the circle drawn in the dirt below, sparking in the grooves of the runes scrawled around the perimeter before evaporating to nothing.   
  
As his blood reacted and interwove with the circle, Ushijima thought that an animal sacrifice would be quicker, easier. And at least physically less painful. All it would take was a stab to the heart, the carcass laid in the center of the ring, and then all he'd have to do is wait for the sickly sweet scent that would signal that the magic had worked.   
  
But he couldn't bring himself to use others, much less unassuming animals, for personal gain. He’d always opposed the idea, even when he was under the tutelage of the mages at the temple. It was only natural, a mage had said, to take advantage of the bounties of earth. Ending lives that were short anyway meant nothing in the grand scheme of things. But Ushijima had looked ahead and all he could see were piles of bodies left behind in the wake of his search.   
  
They had been right, in one respect. Life was fleeting enough without his holding life in one hand while snatching it away with the other. The thought alone sickened him.    
  
The first time he'd raised a magicked blade to his flesh to draw on the power of his blood, his wizened mentor spoke of the dangers of using one's own life force in the rituals. The words came back to him as the outermost ring of his circle flashed white, once, twice, and then the runes lit up one by one, purple light bleeding from one neatly scrawled character to the next.    
  
Once the circle was fully aglow, the runes shifted and locked into place, signifying that the door had swung open. A pang shot through Ushijima's core, the force of it nearly bringing him to his knees -- his body was the conduit for the magic seeping from the open portal, the price of his offering. He began to whisper the final portion of the spell and watched black smoke pour from the circle, little jolts of electricity infusing the air around him with the saccharine scent of the shadow realm.    
  
The air just outside the circle was still but the forest around him rustled anxiously, the leaves whispering their fear of the taboo ritual taking place in their clearing. Ushijima couldn't break the flow of the incantation to reassure them without the portal collapsing, and as things were he wasn't even sure how long he could hold it open. His chances of success dwindled by the second.   
  
Ushijima's voice was hoarse by the time words failed him and the connection snapped. It was like an elastic cord being cut, the sudden release of tension behind his navel sending him stumbling backward from the circle.    
  
A collapsing portal was far more dangerous than an open one -- there was the unpredictability of the magical recoil, and then the creatures that were attracted to unstable thresholds between the realms, imps that waited for the right moment to slip through and wreak havoc. There was no telling what the maw would belch forth, or when the magic would fizzle out. The circle remained intact, so at least whatever creatures it spewed would remain trapped inside it. Theoretically. 

Without any control over the portal he’d foolishly opened, Ushijima could only watch from behind his spell-woven cloak, apprehension rooting him to the spot. He was responsible for whatever his rogue circle unleashed.

But then the circle swallowed in on itself, sucking the cloying smoke from the air until no trace of the other place was left. 

Under the moonless sky, all Ushijima could make out were ugly scars burned into the earth, his circle torn apart as if something had begun to claw its way out. Fear finally struck, a cold wave of it washing over him, strong enough to make him shiver in the warm nighttime air.    
  
Ushijima focused on the symbols still faintly glowing between the deep gouge marks of the ruined circle. The most important part of the spell, the runes were partly meant to invoke the favor the greater demon he’d been trying to summon. He watched them flicker out one by one, each breath coming easier as the circle burned through the last of his magic.    
  
There was no demon to greet him, the clearing was empty, even the trees were oddly still. He couldn’t decide whether to be disappointed or relieved or something else entirely.   
  
He shook his head and decided to deal with his feelings another time. Conjuring a flame to float above him, he set to work purifying the clearing of the failed ritual. He set four large, flat river stones on opposing edges of the circle to absorb the residual magic that kept the portal ajar, the fear creeping back up on him until he felt it finally shrink closed.    
  
Once the incense was lit, he allowed himself a moment to replay the spell in his mind, to repeat the incantations and tick off the conditions that had to be met. He waved the smoke over his ruined circle to dispel any leftover energy. Its mild scent was calming after his brush with the place of shadows, the memory of its sweetness just as overpowering.   
  
As Ushijima neutralized the remnants of his latest spell and planned the next, he made a list of his mistakes. His terrible habit of mixing light and dark magic. Using his own blood as the catalyst. Not being strong enough and letting the portal collapse.    
  
There was no solution to the first, since it was his pride that fueled his use of both healing and practical magic. He couldn't do anything about the second, since it was a matter of stubborn principle. As for the third, well. He would just need to take more time to prepare. This had only been an experiment. Failing still hurt, but at least he knew where his chances stood.     
  
A squawk startled Ushijima from his brooding and he whipped his head toward the sound, arm raised to brace against shadowy attack. He pictured some fiendish being that had escaped from the other realm, about to pounce...   
  
The flame above Ushijima flared brighter after his silent command, and in its light he saw the source of the noise was only a small crow in one of the saplings closest to him, cawing as it hopped from branch to branch, almost as if to get his attention. He hadn’t sensed its presence, which was odd, but he lowered his arm anyway.    
  
The crow landed on a twig of a branch and couldn't find its balance, wings flapping as it squawked indignantly, the branch threatening to snap under its weight.   
  
Ushijima smiled and stepped closer to the tree, figuring it would move to another steadier branch out of his reach. "You're a strange little thing. What are you doing so far from home?"   
  
The tiny black bird did flit to a slightly higher branch, but it made no move to fly away from Ushijima when he slowly reached up to it. For a crow to appear in this part of the woods, where they were a rare sight...it was peculiar, but more than that was the spark of intelligence in its eyes as it regarded him and his outstretched hand.    
  
It chirruped and twitched toward him, then hesitated and pulled back, unsure whether to give him its trust. 

Ushijima whispered and the berries had no sooner appeared in his palm than the crow was perched on this thumb and pecking at the fruit eagerly, trust easily won.    
  
When nothing was left but a stain, the bird looked up at him and squawked loudly.   
  
Ushijima chose to interpret the sound as thanks. "You're welcome, little crow."     
  
But spread its wings and squawked again, hopped to his wrist, then flapped to his shoulder, where it chattered in his ear. He was baffled and unsure of its meaning until he saw it looking at the flame, which he snuffed out with gesture. 

The bird quieted almost at once. 

“Strange and noisy,” Ushijima muttered. It was a lucky thing that dawn was near.


	2. first gift

While Ushijima tucked the leftover materials from the summoning spell into his pack, bewitching it so that he wouldn't feel the weight of the river stones, the crow disappeared into the trees. He dug his fingers into the earth and concentrated, then pulled back once he was satisfied that the clearing was cleansed of the ritual.

The broken circle and its faded runes finally disappeared under the toe of his boot.

He had thought the bird gone until he began the trek home. Branches and leaves rustled from every side up until the forest gave way to another, smaller clearing. Even without the trees giddily whispering of an energetic little foreigner, Ushijima could very well sense that he was being followed by their new feathered friend. Always close by but just out of sight and reach.

The path to his den was known only to him and the forest, but Ushijima found that he didn't mind the crow's presence at all, even when the trunks parted and revealed the quiet glade.

Ushijima had chosen the area for its seclusion, quite a distance from the nearest village. Beams of sunlight slanted through the foliage above them, illuminating the stone structure that cut into the bottom of a small hill. His home was too small to be considered a cottage, yet it was spacious enough that he couldn't call it a hut, outward appearances aside.

Stepping onto the sunlight-dappled swath of grass that served as his front yard, Ushijima listened for the tell-tale flap of wings and disturbance of leaves behind him. Yet all was quiet, his pursuer seeming to have given up the chase now that there was no cover.

Berries and hide-and-seek. Ushijima furrowed his brow.

He figured he'd call to the little crow in case it lost its way, and was rewarded when the bird burst through the wall of green in a flurry of feathers and chattering, lighting down at his feet.

"There you are," Ushijima said. "I'm going inside now."

He made to step around the bird but it jumped in front of him, wings outspread. It cawed a sharp warning, and Ushijima could almost hear the offense in its tone. He shifted to the right instead but found his path blocked again by the noisy creature, all puffed up to make itself look bigger.

Its ruffled feathers were a vain effort, really.

Something tickled in Ushijima’s mind, as if he were on the verge of understanding the crow and its look of annoyance, which was altogether too... _cute?_ Too cute, he decided, to be truly fierce.

"What is it?" The groove between his brows deepened and he tilted his head at the feathered enigma at his feet, and the bird mirrored the angle of his neck. Then it shook itself and cawed again, bright eyes piercing and expectant.

If Ushijima could just get inside, perhaps he could find a spell for understanding crow-speak. It perplexed him that the creature clearly wanted something from him, but he couldn’t place what the something was. More berries?

He offered his palm and was about to conjure a sweet distraction, but the crow ignored him and launched itself up and toward the hill, landing on the bit of earth that jutted out over his doorway.

Exhaustion weighed heavy in his bones, his magical stamina at its limit. With his eyes on the bird, which kept its sharp unblinking eyes on him, he carefully stepped toward his den. Once he was close enough he slowly tugged the door open and stepped inside, closing and latching it before collapsing back against it.

His pack slid from his fingertips and hit the floor with a heavy thud, and he shucked off his boots and cloak and left them in a pile that he'd deal with later.

The ritual and his failure were still buzzing on his mind, but he forced himself to focus on the immediate tasks of taking a bath and gulping down a quick meal. Then sleep. Maybe not even in that order. Before he could even begin tending to the stove fire, though, he heard tapping at the door, insistent and punctuated by a familiar caw.

Ushijima stepped over the mess he left in the entryway and cracked the door so that he could peek down at the little crow. It fell quiet and shoved its beak into the opening, making as if to come inside, and Ushijima briefly considered closing the door and going straight to bed. The bird would cause a ruckus, probably, but eventually lose interest. Any other bird would.

As he considered the crow trying to press its way inside his den, croaking up at him with impatience, he realized this wasn't any ordinary bird. And when he did let it inside, he saw a familiar herb with little clusters of bright purple flowers clutched in its grasp. It flew to the wooden table in his kitchen, released the stalks, and pecked at them before looking up at him intently.

"Is this...for me?" he asked it, realizing that the response he expected, and craved almost, wouldn't come. He was never good at communicating with people, and isolation clearly wasn't helping. The question felt foolish.

But it cawed at him, and it sounded a little like _Duh, of course_.

Dumbstruck, and not for the first time that morning, Ushijima could only stare at the bird. What was least surprising was that it stared back, that same eager, expectant look from earlier about it, until Ushijima broke the spell by opening the door. Presumably it would want to leave now that it had personally delivered its gift.

Just when Ushijima thought he'd figured the crow out...it cocked its head at him, tiny feet planted firmly on his kitchen table, stance communicating its intention to stay put.

At an utter loss, Ushijima relented. "Fine, you can stay, but I will open a window for you before I retire, should you choose to leave."

He must have been truly exhausted or insane or both, talking to it like it could understand him, but it chirped in response, clearly satisfied with itself, then hopped away from the herbs to preen. If he were a bird, surely he'd prefer the open sky than some witch's den. But whatever his assumptions were, the crow only seemed interested in the contrary.

After watching it for a moment, Ushijima turned to fire up the stove, gathering some of yesterday’s rain from an earthen jug to boil. After unlatching the window above the sink, he stood over the pot, letting the steam wash over his face once it began to boil. He closed his eyes against the almost harsh heat that brought a flush to his skin, mindful that there was a bird making itself home in his den.

He avoided looking at it as he collected the stalks from the table, turning away again to break the stems in half and gently crush the flowers before adding them to the water.

The steam became gentler with the addition of the herbs, and Ushijima felt the last of his tension melt away with the crispness of its scent, drowsiness replacing the restless energy that had settled in his core. He breathed it in, so deep he could practically hear his bed calling to him, lonely and wanting, absent his warmth for over a day now.

Ushijima almost didn’t bother to pour any out to drink in favor of stumbling to bed, but it wouldn’t do to squander the bird’s kind gesture, even though the herbal brew had already helped to relax him beyond measure. He looked everywhere but directly at the crow, but he could still feel it watching him as it groomed itself, its smugness permeating the herb-infused air.

Fingers curled around his mug, he raised it to his lips and the tea went down warm and smooth, pooling in his stomach like a gentle puff of dragon’s breath, its namesake. The feeling spread outward to his extremities, and thankfully he’ had the foresight to sit down before the first sip, on the crudely formed cot in the workspace that shared walls with his kitchen.

Peace was another name for the sensation that was strangely heavy in his limbs. He drank until the dregs were silty on his lips, thankful for the strange bird flitting in and out of his vision.

Jumbled images from the last twelve hours played like stop motion from behind his eyelids, but the crow dominated his mental sight. Its playful spirit and sharp intelligence, how he couldn’t help but wait for it to speak back to him, with words rather than a shrill caw. Then the relentless creature had brought him dragon’s breath of all things, which meant it knew not just his state of mind without him ever expressing how he felt, but also how to help. And had swiftly acted on this knowledge.  

Most of all, it had been hours since it had first called to him in the clearing, but in all the time that had passed _it refused to leave his side_.

So soon after the summoning he’d assumed had been fruitless.

Where his body was leaden, his mind whirred with questions. It looked like a crow, but was its appearance true? Would it flee through the open window, as any wild creature would?

The answer — for there was only one — was blisteringly clear to Ushijima in the moments before sleep overtook him.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](http://fucklev.tumblr.com) || [twitter](https://twitter.com/lovedeluxxxe)


End file.
